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Get organised with Tetris

Everyone knows Tetris. I see those falling tetrominoes constantly piling up as a metaphor for the perils of not getting organised.

The NES box describes Tetris as “relentless”, which is true.

Sometimes life can feel like that too.

Here’s one way to get organised and stop missing perfect opportunities.

Sometimes life feels relentless too.

Sometimes you have so much going on, so many tasks that they just keep piling up.

Every so often a long straight block (a period of productivity or clarity, or perhaps a perfect opportunity) comes along and clears away lots of other blocks (lets you get a lot of other obligations out of the way) and everything’s okay again, for a while.

Getting that long straight block in Tetris, just when you need it, is awesome!

It’s like being too busy then having a quiet period, letting you finish the tasks you’d had to put off.

Or like having lots of bills and then the perfect job comes along to help you pay them.

So use those long straight blocks, those opportunities, when they present themselves.

Whether you’re studying, running a business or working a job with deadlines, it’s the same. Next time you’re not that busy, use your extra time to work on side projects, streamline a time consuming process, organise your files or get ready for the next big thing. Because before you know it, the tasks will start piling up again. Organise while you can.

What happens if you don’t use those long straight blocks wisely?

Well, here’s what happened to my latest game of Tetris:

So much had built up that when I got a long straight block, I couldn’t take advantage of it.

In fact, I got three in a row, which stacked on top of each other and ended my game.

This is like seeing the perfect job advertised, but you’re so disorganised or busy in your current dead-end job that you don’t have time to write a proper job application.

Or squandering that bonus or birthday money and so the bills pile up again to the stage where you see a fantastic deal on a game you’ve wanted or there’s an unexpected dinner with friends but you can’t afford it.

And if you follow these opportunities anyway, they could go sour, like the job application coming off as unprofessional and making you look bad. Or buying that game or going out anyway and then being charged late fees for those bills you chose not to pay.

Perfect opportunity wasted (and perhaps even harmful) due to other things building up. You wouldn’t think a perfect opportunity could be a bad thing, but if you’re too busy or disorganised to effectively act on it , it can be.

So take advantage of the lulls and the opportunities. Make use of them.

Here’s a few ways to do that:

Be mindful of your time – make the most of even small periods of downtime and you’ll find they’ll come along more often

Recognise opportunities – it may sound simple, but lots of opportunities are missed simply because we were too busy to notice

Think ahead – sure, you don’t want to do that onerous task right now, but what if you knew it was that or miss a great opportunity later?

Reward yourself – when you clear out tasks that have been hanging over your head, take a little time to reward yourself; it’ll be worth it.

Open Chat

How do you take advantage of long straight blocks? What are some other tips for getting organised? Drop your thoughts in an organised pattern into the comments below – just don’t add four comments in a row or they may disappear ;)